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One of the good ol' boys meets the man

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by boots, Apr 10, 2007.

  1. boots

    boots New Member

    CHARLOTTE -- A season of on-track embarrassments for Nextel Cup driver Michael Waltrip has spilled off the track.
    The two-time Daytona 500 champion was charged early Saturday morning with reckless driving and failure to report an accident after crashing and leaving the scene on Molly's Backbone Road in Catawba County.
    "I am really embarrassed about the accident, but I feel fortunate that I wasn't hurt," Waltrip said in a statement released by Michael Waltrip Racing. "For 25 years I have had a great driving record. I consider myself to be a courteous and safe driver on public roads.
    "I never expected to fall asleep behind the wheel of a car."
    Team officials said alcohol was not a factor and that alcohol was not mentioned on the ticket. They added that there has been no backlash from Waltrip's primary sponsor, NAPA, which has watched its driver fail to qualify for the past five Cup races.
    Waltrip hasn't made a race since the Daytona 500, when his crew chief and director of competition were indefinitely suspended by NASCAR after an unspecified fuel additive was discovered in his engine during pre-qualifying inspections.
    Waltrip also was docked 100 points.
    Phone messages left at Waltrip's home were not returned.
    The Highway Patrol told WSOC-TV in Charlotte that Waltrip was driving about 70 mph in a 50-mph zone when he went off the right side of the road on a curve around 1:50 a.m. on Saturday.
    The car then traveled back across the pavement and slid off the left side of the road before striking a utility pole as it overturned and then came to a rest on its side.
    A witness told state troopers that Waltrip crawl out of the car and left the scene. Police went to Waltrip's home at 2:30 a.m., but nobody answered the door. According to WSOC-TV, Waltrip was found at his home by a trooper at around 8 a.m. with scratches on his face and deep cuts on his finger.
    He told the trooper that he fell asleep at the wheel driving from Charlotte to his home in Sherrills Ford, N.C.
    "I was almost home," Waltrip told the television station. "I relaxed a little bit and ran off the road. I woke up with gravel hitting the car and I tried to correct, but it was too late.
    "I had so many emotions when the car came to a stop. I was sad I wrecked. I was embarrassed I wrecked and thankful I wasn't hurt."
    Waltrip, who has a May 14 court date, walked the remaining mile to his home.
    "I hope this is a lesson to kids and adults that you have to be on your game when driving a vehicle," Waltrip told WSOC-TV.
     
  2. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Or maybe not

     
  3. JBHawkEye

    JBHawkEye Well-Known Member

    It's the best driving he's done all year, since he's barely raced.
     
  4. westcoastvol

    westcoastvol Active Member

    I'm just amazed he could get the car up to 70.
     
  5. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Nice...
     
  6. JBHawkEye

    JBHawkEye Well-Known Member

    Was he driving a Toyota? Did it have jet fuel in the manifold?
     
  7. Molly's Backbone Road?
    Gawd, I love the South.
     
  8. Bill Horton

    Bill Horton Active Member


    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Farfrompoopen Road, the only road to Constipation Ridge, lost to Divorce Court and Psycho Path, which placed No. 1 in an online poll of the nation's wildest, weirdest and wackiest street names.
    Mitsubishi Motors sponsored the poll on the website http://www.TheCarConnection.com and more than 2,500 voters cast their ballots during a week of voting that ended this month. Winners were announced Friday.

    "Our readers really stepped up with some insane street names," said website publisher Paul Eisenstein. "Our panel had a difficult time narrowing several hundred down to the 10 our readers voted on.

    "But we learned a lot about the byways of this country, not to mention the collective sense of humor of city planners everywhere."

    In first place was Psycho Path in Traverse City, Mich., followed by Heather Highlands, Pa.'s, Divorce Court in second and Arkansas' Farfrompoopen Road in third. Eisenstein said all the roads were verified, although some are private and hard to find.

    The complete top 10 list included:

    10. Tater Peeler Road in Lebanon, Texas

    9. The intersection of Count and Basie in Richmond, Va.

    8. Shades of Death Road in Warren County, N.J.

    7. Unexpected Road in Buena, N.J.

    6. Bucket of Blood Street in Holbrook, Ariz.

    5. The intersection of Clinton and Fidelity in Houston

    4. The intersection of Lonesome and Hardup in Albany, Ga.

    3. Farfrompoopen Road in Tennessee (the only road up to Constipation Ridge)

    2. Divorce Court in Heather Highlands, Pa.

    1. Psycho Path in Traverse City, Mich.

    As you can see, the top two are in the North.
    Gosh how I dislike it when people are prejudiced, sanctimonious and judgemental while stereotyping an entire group of people.
     
  9. Bill Horton

    Bill Horton Active Member

    And then there's:

    Smashed-in Buffalo Head Road in North Dakota.
    Big Beaver Road in the Detroit suburbs.
    Not far from the University of Michigan's school of political science is the intersection of Nixon and Bluett Roads.
    Or Fangboner Road near Toledo, Ohio?
    Try Chicken Shack Lane in Pleasant Ridge, Mich. or Lois Lane Drive in Southfield, Mich.
    Somewhere in the state of New York is the intersection of Bangher and Leever.
     
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    My favorite, from rural Florida: That Road.

    Giving directions involving it is a who's-on-first routine waiting to happen.
     
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